Islamabad, Apr. 10 : A multi-million dollar scam has been unearthed in Pakistan's Railway Ministry with top railway bosses confessing before the National Assembly Standing Committee that a Chinese company was awarded contracts on the basis of "fake performance certificates."

The Chinese company got a deal of 12.5 billion rupees for procurement of 75 locomotives and that nine serious procedures required for award of any contract to an international firm were also ignored, Chairman of Parliamentary Committee Ayaz Sadiq told The News.

"Even those who forged this document did not bother to get it attested from the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing, the requirement of such contracts," Sadiq said.

Of late, the issue of the 75 Chinese locomotives has been in the media especially since the US embassy raised serious objections on the move as the US auto giant General Motors was also in run for the contract.

But the GM price was much higher although the Railways Minister Ghulam Ahmed Bilour had stated on record that he would prefer the US engines, as they were reliable and durable.

However, President Asif Ali Zardari reportedly got involved in the issue and finally he decided that the contract should be given to the Chinese on political grounds because China was a friend of Pakistan.

Secretary/Chairman Railways Samiul Haq Khilji had also informed the committee that during the examination of the official record, forgery and tampering of documents had been detected.

The Secretary Finance Salman Sadiq reportedly could not help making a comment after looking at the performance certificate, saying: "This is a joke." (ANI)